Dave Dombrowski makes it clear Taijuan Walker is no longer in picture for Phillies

The Philadelphia Phillies made one major splash this offseason, trading for ex-Miami Marlins ace Jesus Luzardo in an effort to boost the National League's best rotation.

Luzardo comes with his share of injury concerns, but when he's operating at full capacity, the 27-year-old can peak in All-Star territory. In 2023, his only season with more than 20 starts, Luzardo finished with a 3.58 ERA and 1.22 WHIP, striking out 208 across 178.2 innings.

The Phillies will cautiously hope for a comparable campaign in 2025, although elite depth allows Rob Thomson to operate with caution and build rest into Luzardo's schedule.

Luzardo joins a five-man rotation consisting of Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola, Ranger Suarez, and Cristopher Sanchez — three of whom were All-Stars last season. The Phillies also have top prospect Andrew Painter on the come-up after his successful stint in the Arizona Fall League. He spent last season recovering from Tommy John, but the 21-year-old is on the fast track to his MLB debut.

That means the Phillies, at full strength, can stretch six-deep in the starting rotation, with 31-year-old Joe Ross signed as a swingman. He started 10 games across 25 appearances for Milwaukee last season, notching an impressive 3.77 ERA.

All this is to say, Phillies fans can forget about watching Taijuan Walker in a high-leverage moment next season.

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Phillies are effectively (if unofficially) done with Taijuan Walker

Walker's contract, worth $36 million over the next two years, is a tough pill to swallow for Philadelphia. Thankfully, Dave Dombrowski isn't falling victim to a sunk cost. He is relegating Walker to the sidelines until further notice, effectively replacing him, even if his contract continues to weigh down the books.

Dombrowski was open with reporters about his intention to use Painter this upcoming season, meaning the Phillies have concrete plans to stretch six-deep with their rotation — and Walker, thankfully, feels like a distant seventh or eighth option, if that.

"We’re going to push [Painter's] innings back,” Dombrowski told The Athletic. “I don’t think it’s going to change. Andrew understands the plan. We think it’s a good plan. He’ll build up at some point through the minors… We’re going to save a lot of his innings until we get to July-ish for the big-league level."

Ideally, between the start of the season and Painter's tentatively planned MLB debut in July, the Phillies can extract a few healthy months from their loaded top five. Until Painter is up to speed, one has to imagine Ross is in line for pinch starts, even ahead of the more experienced, more expensive Walker.

Philadelphia will, presumably, hope for a determined and revived version of Walker to show up in spring training. Lest we forget, Walker was an All-Star a few years back in New York. He wasn't so hopeless in his first campaign with the Phils — a 4.38 ERA across 30 starts — but last season saw nagging injuries take their toll on the veteran, who finished 19 appearances (15 starts) with a comically bad 7.10 ERA and 1.72 WHIP (although Phillies fans weren't laughing much).

Now 32 years old, it feels like the 6-foot-4 righty has lost his secret sauce. Walker has always been a groundball pitcher, working hand-in-hand with his defense to generate outs and keep explosive hits to a minimum. Last season, Walker's hard contact rate skyrocketed. Every hit seemed to find a gap — or the other side of the outfield wall — and Walker just was not missing bats.

The Phillies are right to replace him, even with so much dead money on the books. It's the only way to address arguably the most glaring weak point in a talent-rich roster.